The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of crape-myrtle, the variety being primarily characterized by strong purplish pink blooms having white marginal variegation.
The variety is further characterized by:
Flat-spreading performance having a (hill spread)/(height) ratio of about 2.0, disc-shaped form, dwarf habit (about 30 cm height), heavy branching habit and an extremely numerous amount of blooms.
The new crape-myrtle variety originated in 1985 as a seedling resulting from my crossing of a pair of crape-myrtle plants. The seed parent was `Summer And Summer`, Lagerstroemia indica L., which was bred at a research farm in Uchino-cho, Niigata-shi, Niigata-ken, Japan, and the pollen parent was `Issai-Sarusuberi`, Lagerstroemia indica L. This crossing was done at the same research farm as described above in 1984 with the object of producing plants having flowers of different colors from the seed parent, `Summer And Summer.` The seed parent, `Summer And Summer` has been registered under No. 1733 on Aug. 18, 1988, under the Japanese Seed and Seedlings Law. The pollen parent, `Issai-Sarusuberi` is a well-known and popular crape-myrtle plant and is under no protection, such as a patent or plant variety protection certificate. In 1986, the asexual reproduction of this selected seedling was done by me and under my direction at the same research farm by green shoot cutting. Then, observations were made for 2-4 years of grown plants during 1987-1989. The continuous asexual propagation has demonstrated that the novel characteristics would hold true from generation to generation, appear to be firmly fixed, and are transmitted without change through succeeding propagations.
The new crape-myrtle variety differs from its seed parent and pollen parent in the following ways.
______________________________________ New Variety Seed Parent Pollen Parent Summer Summer And Issai- Dream Summer Sarusuberi ______________________________________ Tree-Performance flat-spreading flat-spreading upright (hill spread)/(tree 2.0 3.0 0.43 height) ratio Tree form disc disc obovoid Tree height (cm) dwarf (31.6) dwarf (20.0) shrub (130.0) Branching Habit heavy medium sparse (number of branches 9.8 5.8 4.4 on a main trunk) Number of inflores- numerous medium little cences per one 9.0 5.0 3.5 cluster Number of flowers numerous medium little per one 39.4 32.0 26.0 inflorescence Petal color strong strong vivid red purplish pink purplish pink purple JHS (JHS JHS Color Color Chart Color Chart Chart 9205 or 9507 or RHS 9505) with RHS Colour Colour Chart white Chart 68A, 71B marginal 68B, 73A 71B variegation or RHS Colour Chart 61D, 66C ______________________________________
The new crape-myrtle variety may be reproduced with ease by stem cuttings. Just after root taking, young shoots come out and spread as growth proceeds. The variety becomes to show full flat-spreading in tree performance and disc shape in tree form, before appearance of flower buds. The tree height of an adult tree is about 30 cm and the hill spread is about 2.0 times the tree height.
The variety shows heavy branching habit and bears numerous flowers and buds. The blooming period of the variety is long, from July to October in Niigata-shi, Niigata-ken, Japan and in similar climate elsewhere. The variety also shows a good cold hardiness and can overwinter well without being supported with a pole even in a snowy area.